Entertainment

7 Things We'd Change About Spotify

Editor's Note: The original version of this post included three requests for features that Spotify already has. We have updated the text and highlighted how to access those features at the bottom of the post. Mashable regrets the error.

Here at Mashable we love Spotify, but there are things we'd change about the music streaming service. We've put our heads together and come up with a list of features and functionality we'd like to see Spotify offer.

Take a look through our list of suggested tweaks and improvements below. Let us know in the comments below what you would change about Spotify if you could.

1. View Music By Number of Plays

Unlike iTunes, there's no way to sort music by the amount of times you've listened to it. A much requested feature, Spotify says it doesn't fit its "design philosophy" at this time.

2. Playlist Sorting

Currently it's only possible to sort your playlists by dragging and dropping them. Even a simple way to sort playlists alphabetically would be an improvement. Spotify says, "We are working on good ways to improve the playlist sorting options," so hopefully we'll see some changes soon.

3. Email Alerts

The default setting for email alerts from Spotify appears to be set to "spam" level. You can change what alerts you receive, but this involves logging into your account, heading to the "Edit Profile" section and tweaking the settings. We'd rather see the default level a little less inbox cluttering.

4. Outbox

Spotify features an Inbox, but there's no "Outbox" to see the songs and messages you've sent to friends. According to Spotify this is another idea that is "under consideration."

5. Block an Artist

Spotify's "Radio" functionality is great for new music discovery and background listening, but you have no control over what gets played. We'd like to see the option to "block" an artist from an auto-generated Radio playlist so you can be sure not to be annoyed by musicians you don't like.

6. Repeat Track

Why can't you repeat one track on Spotify? There is a workaround — put one track in a playlist and repeat that — but we think it should really be a function of the main UI.

7. Find Duplicate Songs

If you add a song to a playlist that's already been added, there's no kind of alert to let you know, neither is there a "find duplicates" function. This might change soon though — Spotify says this is "under consideration."

3 Awesome Spotify Features We Missed

In the original version of this article, we highlighted three other feature requests for Spotify. It turns out, those features were there all along. Check out these additional features and tips to make the Spotify experience even better.

1. Make Private Sessions Permanent

Spotify's "Private Session" feature is great for those times you need your Bieb fix, but don't want your Facebook friends to find out but the privacy setting only lasts for a certain period of time, or until you log out. When you go back in to Spotify, you have to turn the Private Session back on.

If you want to turn off Spotify sharing all together, simply go to Preferences and then uncheck "Share my activity and what I listen to with my followers on Spotify" as well as the option to "Share my activity and what I listen to on Facebook."

Now you can listen to One Direction on a loop without worrying about being outed as a 30-year old teeny bopper.

2. Search Within a Playlist

We weren't sure how to search within a playlist. Fortunately, it's quite easy. Press CTRL-F on Windows or CMD-F on Mac when you're in a playlist and a special filter bar comes up that searches a playlist for an artist, album or track.

3. Listen Later

We'd love a way to "save" songs or even albums to listen to later. At the moment the only way to bookmark music is to star it or add it to a playlist. How about a "Listen Later" button to hit if you come across something interesting while you're browsing?

It turns out, that features exists. It's called the queue! The queue is in the upper left hand corner of the Spotify user interface. You can send albums, tracks or playlists to the queue either by dragging and dropping them to the folder or right-clicking on a track, album or playlist and selecting "add to queue."

The queue also shows off your listening history, which can be handy if you're unsure what band is behind the awesome track you heard last night.

Mashable
is a global, multi-platform media and entertainment company. Powered by its own proprietary technology, Mashable is the go-to source for tech, digital culture and entertainment content for its dedicated and influential audience around the globe.